Dia das Mães 💘💝💖💗

Hi fam! 

We're in the last few days of the transfer! They moved transfers, so now we get transfers news Wednesday night and then transfers are on Friday! I'm probably not going anywhere but why are transfers so anxiety inducing  

Here are some of my highlights of the week 

- At the beginning of the transfer, Sister Larson and I found Margarida at a bus stop! It took us a hot sec to start meeting with her, but once we did, she progressed so fast. She's started the Book of Mormon from the beginning and she's already in Mosiah bro. She's this cute Angolan mom of 4 that was baptized into the Evangelical church a couple years ago. This past week we had hit a road block with her because she still couldn't quite grasp why she needed to be baptized again. So we explained multiple times, and then this week we had a lesson with her and also one of the ward's recent converts. Oh my gosh this lesson was so good. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation and talked a lot about baptism and the recent convert's testimony and conversion story made all the difference. Towards the end of the lesson Margarida said "My baptism into the evangelical church didn't bring me what I feel in this church. I feel like I'm missing something." You should've seen the smile on my face and and heard me screaming in my head "CONVÊNIOOOS" Margarida now has a baptismal date for June 3rd!!! June 3rd. If you're a Gilmore Girls fans you know that June 3rd isn't a super awesome day but we're gonna change that. And then as were standing up and walking out she was like "My 2 kids at home can be baptized too right?" um YES!!!! I'm really excited. 

- We had a lesson with Yvens (Yvens is literally always a highlight) and he was 15 minutes late because he had to finish reading Jacob 5. Are we kidding?? And then in our lesson he told us about the parallels he saw between Jacob 5 and the Old Testament chapter he had read and ugh. And then at church he wore a cute suit coat. He's so tender I love him. 

- Don't know if this should be a highlight or a not highlight but I hit 11 months on the mission guys. I will keep bringing up every month mark because every month it continues to blow my mind.

And some of my not highlights

- This whole transfer we have had a hard time getting our friends to church. Every Sunday we've always had a few at least but nothing more than that. So were were like ok. It's the last week of the transfer we're are gonna work so hard and see some miracles (se for a vontade do Pai). So we started the week with a fast and then we invited the whole world to church. Our friends, every one we talked to on the street, on facebook, we put in a lot more time than normal to do all of the things. And we were sooooo excited because everyone promised us they were gonna be there. Our friends, even some promising grey dots. And then church came around and we're here trying so hard to enjoy the sacrament but actually I'm just watching the door and I guess it wasn't the vontade do Pai because guess how many friends came to church?  It's okay though!! I trust in the Lord and his timing and am willing to put in the same amount of work this next week even if it means the same results. 

- We found out that Alberto, the guy that now has a baptismal date, doesn't live in our area  He lives in the Gaia Elders area which is right next to us. Bye bye Alberto.

- Thursday was not my favorite day in the whole world. It was the type of day where it took alllll of my energy and courage to go talk to cute bun lady across the street. So we went and talked to cute bun lady and she was so evil. Apparently the missionaries are all talk and I actually don't care to know what her name is and how work went.

- Somebody invited all the portuguese people to our english class so instead of what normally is a fun chill class, it quickly became a high stress hour long bully session of the Sisters because apparently we didn't explain English well enough  I think these full grown adults forget that we are offering them a free service and that also I'm not qualified to teach English at all 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY CUTE MOM!  The whole world needs to know how much I love her and how she deserves the world. 

If you guys remember, awhile ago I wrote an email on how much I love being a woman lol. Well on an equal scale, I love mothers, I love my mother, I love the mother figures in my life. And I'm so excited to be a mother one day because of their examples to me. 

Something super cute, is that in Portuguese, when wanting to say "give birth," the translation is "dar luz" which directly translated actually means "to give light." I discovered that awhile ago while reading the scriptures and I just love it so much because whether you are a mother that has given birth or not, you give a light to all those around you.

"Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defined our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us." 

My life is full of strong women who every day take on the sacred role of "mother" as one mothers to her 6 children, or as the other works tirelessly in the hospital mothering to sick children, or as she mothers to a 5th grade classroom full of little students, or as she mothers to her new baby, or as she mothers to provide for her family's needs. 

I have been blessed and will continue to be blessed by my mother who bore me, and continues to bear with me. "No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love (my) devoted mother has for her child(ren)." I know that has to be true as I have seen my mom spend her whole life working and praying for the physical and spiritual well-being of my family. "To bring together those two absolutely crucial, essential pillars of her very existence—the gospel of Jesus Christ and her family—she pour(s) out her soul in prayer endlessly. She fast(s) and (weeps), she (weeps) and fast(s), and then she listen(s)." I want to say thank you to my mom, for the doctrine she has taught, for the love that she has shown, and for the person I am today because of her 

 Sister Menden 

Pics! 

- last pday we had a sisters zone pday and it was so fun!! In the summer we can only go to the beach before 9:30am so we ran and got there early. 

- the ocean from our apartment window ugh love

- let's play a game called find the portuguese people in our english class pic  

- me and Sister Larson after putting Margarida on date just pure joy

- My cutie friend Melany who I started teaching with Sister Smith in Aveiro got baptized!!! Made my heart so so happy. Bom trabalho Sister Smith I love you

- the Gaia house  

- enjoy this picture of me and Sister Cornell at efy 5 years ago